1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a reactor for catalytically processing gaseous fluids in which, along with a catalytic reaction, a heat exchange takes place.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of catalysts for purification of outgoing air, e.g., of a solvent-containing industrial air and air used in technical synthesis, is known. The outgoing air is conducted through a reactor in which a catalyst is provided. It is typical for a catalytic oxidation that, on one side, the processed fluid is heated to a predetermined temperature so that a catalytic reaction can take place and that, on the other hand, during a catalytic reaction, heat is released by an exothermal reaction. As a result, it is necessary to evacuate the released heat to avoid overheating and destruction of the catalyst and to supply heat, especially at the beginning of the reaction. To this end, it has already become known to provide outgoing air reactors in which the flow direction is periodically changed.
With a high technical output, a particular drawback of conventional reactors consists in that, during the change of the flow direction, the air which remains in the former inlet is discharged without being purified. It was also suggested to conduct catalytic purification of the outgoing air in a rotatable catalyzer. At that, the stream of outgoing air due to the rotational movement of the catalyzer, flows through the catalyzer interchangeably radially or axially. However, the use of rotatable parts presents problems from the sealing point of view and, in addition, the change of the flow direction results in the creation of so-called dead volume of non-purified air.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is a reactor of the above-mentioned type that would enable a continuous operation without a forced change of the flow direction.